Manufacture of condensation products



Patented July 19, 1949 MANUFACTURE OF CONDENSATION PRODUCTS Louis L. Lerner, Chicago, 111., assignor to Consolidated Royal Chemical Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application February 20, 1946,

Serial No. 649,132

7 Claims. 1

The present invention relates generally to the production of condensation reaction products, of the kind disclosed in my prior co-pending application Serial No. 557,945, filed October 9, 1944, now Patent No. 2,437,261, issued March 9, 1948,

In said application I have described the condensation of an ester with polyethylene glycols, eliminating water between .them, and forming new compounds, varying in properties depending upon the relative proportions of ester and of glycol, and also upon the extent to which condensation is permitted. Said application discloses the condensation of 2 moles of an ester with 2 to 4 moles of .the glycol, and the elimination by such condensations of from 2 to 8 moles of water. The compounds formed may be cross-chains, or cyclic compounds, or various complex combinations of cross-chain and cyclic compounds, as well as zigzag-compounds.

The present invention involves an ester not disclosed in the said prior application, but insofar as the reactions are concerned it is an equivalent of the first disclosed ester, and illustrates the same generic invention which is illustrated in said application.

It is the general object of the invention to form condensation products deriving from polyethylene glycol and an ester of a saturated aliphatic monocarboxylicacid with a saturated aliphatic monohydric alcohol.

It is an object of the present invention to condense stearyl stearate with polyethylene glycols.

The polyethylene glycol has the generic formula HO(CH2.CH2.O) 1H and the lowest member is diethylene glycol in which at has the value of 2,

which has an actual molecular weight of 106.

Higher values of it may be used, as well as mixtures of compounds with difierent values of 9:. These materials and mixtures are comercially available as "Carbowaxes, and are commercially identified either by the exact composition or the average molecular weight. The following are commercially available: diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 200, 400, 600, 900, 1,000, 1,500, 4,000 and 6,000. Reference is made to Chemical and Engineering News, volume 23, February 10, 1945, pages 247 to 251, for a publication by C. P. McClelland and R. L. Bateman, entitled Technology of the polyethylene glycols and Carbowax compounds. This article identifies the poly' ethylene glycols and the Carbowaxes by their commercial designations with their actual or average molecular weight and other properties.

in which X is a saturated aliphatic straight-chain hydrocarbon radical having from 12 to 18 carbon atoms, and in which R is a saturated aliphatic straight-chain hydrocarbon radical having from 10 to 16 carbon atoms. Such esters occur in nature, especially in animal and vegetable fats and oils. They may be made by condensing pure or commercial forms of the corresponding saturated aliphatic straight-chain monohydric alcohols and monocarboxylic acids, each reactant for the ester having from 12 to 18 carbon atoms. The extremes in the resulting range of esters are lauryl laurate and stearyl stearate.

The stearyl stearate may be made by condensing commercial stearyl alcohol with commercial stearic acid. Each of these commercial materials is a variable combination of acids or alcohols, so that on esterification they combine in variable combinations of the several acids and the several alcohols to form various esters other than stearyl stearate.

Commercial stearic acid may be used, varying generally in composition and about as follows:

Per cent by weight Lauric acid 0 to .2 Myristic acid 0 to 1.8 Palmitic acid"; 52 to 64 Stearie acid 34 to 44 Oleic acid 2 to 4 Using commercial stearyl alcohol and commercial stearic acid, the resulting ester will vary in its melting point as a result of variations in the fatty acid, and as a result of processing conditions in esterifying. However, the general useful properties of the ester, and its activity as a revaried from 40 to 44 C. in its melting point.

The ester for the present invention is any one or more having the formula XOCO-'-CI-I2R In carrying out the present inventiona stearyl stearate preparation is made a component of an anhydrous mixture with anypolyethylene glycol in the ratio of 1 molar quantity of the ester'to l to 2 molar quantities of the glycol. The mixture is heated, with or without a-vehicularnon-aqueous solvent which is inert, and thetempei'ature is increased. The water is eliminated by chemicallcondensation, andthe amount of water so eliminated can be used as a control to determine the extent of the reaction; The" example-may be Example Stearyl ester of commercial stearic acid is made using 2'10 parts by weight of stearyl alcohol and 280 parts of commercial stearic acid. These are condensed by heating in an open vessel for about 7 hours at about 295 C. The formed water is boiled ofi. To 240 lbs. of the resulting ester is added 330 lbs. of Carbowax (MW 1500) and the mixture heated to 275 to 280 C. for 12 hours, with loss of water vapor. This is preferably done in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, which results in a lighter-colored product. It is believed that considerable oxidation of the compound is thus avoided.

The product is a light tan waxy solid at normal temperature having a melting point of about 40 and the resulting OH group condenses with one mole of polyethylene glycol, while another mole of polyethylene glycol adds on at the unsaturation, thus:

This is one compound of the invention. In the last formula above, the terminal --OH groups also may react like their initial companion terminal OH groups with another mole of the ester, by the same reaction, making a cyclic compound.

Also said glycolic --OH groups may condense with like -OH groups of a similar compound.

.Since any --OH group of a polyethylene glycol or of a compound of such with the ester as above described, may condense with any --OH group of an initial condensation product, or two of the glycolic -OH groups may react with the group CO-CH as described above, there is a variety of possible end products.

Numerous changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method comprising heating and condensing with the formation of water one molar quantity of an ester of commercial stearyl alcohol and commercial stearic acid, with 1 to 2 molar quantities of polyethylene glycol, and therebyeliminating by chemical condensation at least one molar quantity of water.

2. The method comprising heating and condensing with the formation of water one molar quantity of stearyl stearate and 1 to 2 molar i quantities or pcyethylene glycol. and thereby eliminating by chemical condensation at least one molar quantity of water.

3. A condensation product resulting from eliminating water by reaction of steal'yl stearate and polyethylene glycol.

4. A condensation product resulting from condensing and eliminating water between an ester of commercial stearyl alcohol and commercial stearic acid, and polyethylene glycol.

5. The method comprising heating and condensing an anhydrous mixture containing polyethylene glycol and ester of the formula in which X and R are saturated aliphatic straightchain hydrocarbon radicals of which X has from 12 to 18 carbon atoms and R has from 10 to 16 carbon atoms, there being two molar quantities of the ester and from 2 to 4 molar quantities of the polyethylene glycol, and continuing said heating and increasing the temperature as condensation progresses until from 2 to 8 molar quantities of water are formed and removed from the mixture as vapor.

6. A condensation product resulting from condensing and eliminating from 2 to 8 molar quantities of water from an original anhydrous mixture of 2 to 4 molar quantities of polyethylene glycol and 1 to 2 molar quantities of ester having the formula XO-COCHz-R in which X and R are saturated aliphatic straight-chain hydrocarbon radicals of which X has from 12 to 18 carbon atoms and R. has from 10 to 16 carbon atoms.

'7. The process which comprises condensing and eliminating water from an anhydrous mixture containing as the predominant and essential reactive ingredients (a) 2 to 4 molar quantities of polyethylene glycol in the form of one or more of the polyethylene glycols and having respectively an actual or average molecular weight in the range from 106 corresponding to diethylene glycol to 6000, and (b) 2 molar quantities of one or more of esters having the formula in which X is a saturated aliphatic straightchain hydrocarbon radical having from 12 to 18 carbon atoms and in which R is. a saturated aliphatic straight-chain hydrocarbon radical having from 10 to 16 carbon atoms, said condensation being effected by heating the mixture to generate and evolve water as vapor and by removal of the water vapor from the reaction mass, until from 2 to 8 molar quantities of water are removed.

LOUIS L. LERNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,970,578 Schoeller et a1. Aug. 21, 1934 2,185,969 Schultze Jan. 2, 1940 

